SUNFLOWER POWER

isn't it wonderful what a new dress and a deluge of compliments can do to a girl's face? in this case, not two days after the wizarding world of mental health disasters, i was laughing my guts out as my friends yelled directions at me like "be a dolphin! be a kumquat! be a rainbow!" in my back garden, in between thundery rain showers. the maxi dress in question was chosen for its ability to hide a multitude of sins on a day when i planned to eat my weight in garden party foods, drink as much prosecco as i could handle, and be sat in the garden, catching up with some long-lost friends.

being the only person in london with a garden comes in handy when one of your best mates needs to throw a garden party for some #quality #content for her blog - especially when being said friend means you get a new hoover by way of a thank you gift for opening doors and helping toss salads. to be honest, if i knew being a co-host was that easy, i would have offered years ago. especially because that's the first time i've stepped foot in that garden since we moved in... more than a year ago. foolish, really, because when you hear tales from others about how small their flats are when yours isn't, how they don't have a patch of grass when you have a whole garden, and how they thought south london was going to be such a mission when it really wasn't, it certainly makes you think about how lucky you are.

speaking of luck, it's just as well this magical dress arrived when it did; it was the perfect thing to wear to a garden party - in spite the weather. there's so much fabric in the skirt that it forms its own sort of tent, keeping the elements away from anything close to my skin - must be what wearing a kilt feels like! i wasn't sure what size to go for as i'd never shopped with miss pap before, and the sizing options were s/m or m/l - no simple medium. the dress has an elasticated waist and adjustable straps, so though i did go for the m/l in the end, i could happily have fitted in the s/m i think.

the colours are absolutely banging, and the ruffle/extra layer around the top is a really flattering and pretty detail that i would never have thought would suit me. the elasticated wait was just what i needed after eating first, seconds and thirds of the tastiest salads i've ever tried (thanks katy!), so all in all, very lucky find, dontcha think!